


in daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee (how about love?)

by explodingsnapple



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Retail, B99 Fall 2019 Fic Exchange, Bisexual Gina Linetti, Bisexual Rosa Diaz, Eventual Romance, F/F, Pining, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Starbucks, Tumblr Prompt, b99fandomevents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-22 13:50:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21303119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/explodingsnapple/pseuds/explodingsnapple
Summary: Rosa rolls her eyes. “Besides, I never drink coffee.”Gina lowers her phone and leans forward; her Twitter updates can wait. “Rosa Diaz, are you telling me that you’ve never had a Pumpkin Spice Latte?”(An AU where Rosa's a Target Sales Associate and Gina's a barista for the Starbucks inside.)
Relationships: Gina Linetti & Amy Santiago, Gina Linetti & Jake Peralta, Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz & Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz & Gina Linetti, Rosa Diaz & Jake Peralta, Rosa Diaz/Gina Linetti
Comments: 22
Kudos: 81





	in daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee (how about love?)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thirteenbythirteen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirteenbythirteen/gifts).

> This is my entry for the b99 Fall 2019 Fic Exchange, written for @thirteenbythirteen and in response to her prompt of "Gina convinces Rosa to try Pumpkin Spice Lattes (canon-divergence/AU)." This is an entirely new genre for me but I really enjoyed writing this, and I hope you like it!
> 
> Also, for those of you who care about such things, the events of this fic most closely parallel those in seasons 4-5 in canon, although some things are switched around.

September 

Gina Linetti is doing exactly what she should be doing as a Starbucks Barista working during peak-lunch hours on a Wednesday afternoon: sitting at a table by herself, playing Kwazy Cupcakes and live-tweeting her scores. Most individuals would regard such behavior as something along the lines of “shirking responsibilities,” but Gina rarely pays attention to trivial matters like “professional obligations”—she has a social media following to maintain, after all.

(Also, because the Starbucks she works at is located inside of a Target and hardly anyone goes shopping at one o’clock in the middle of the week, Gina doesn’t have work to do and has to find other ways to occupy herself.)

Even with the shortage of customers, there is more than enough activity throughout the store to keep Gina (and her fans, via Instagram Live) entertained: Charles Boyle is setting up an “exotic culinary delights” food cart despite being explicitly told multiple times that Target does not offer samples; in Electronics, Hitchcock and Scully are watching TV while Jake Peralta bounces a rubber ball off of the back of Hitchcock’s head; behind them, Amy Santiago is taking inventory in (and completely reorganizing the layout of) the Stationary aisle. 

Privately, Gina thinks she’s a much better Sales Associate than any of them (although every time she says so, Terry Jeffords, the Floor Manager, is quick to remind her that she’s technically not even a Target employee, and Raymond Holt, the Store Manager, asks her to stop crashing their staff meetings. Gina disagrees—being a Sales Associate is not a job; it’s a state of mind.)

Gina watches the chaos for a while and contemplates offering to choose a new wardrobe for Amy (those formal blouses and loafers are so _boring_), but before she can, the unmistakable thud of stomping combat boots starts to resonate through the store. A few seconds later, Rosa Diaz marches in, carrying a motorcycle helmet under one arm and wearing a leather jacket over her red shirt. Now _that's_ a fashion choice Gina can get behind.

“Rosa, you’re late. Also, leather jackets are against uniform regulations,” Amy says. 

“Shut up, Santiago, or I’ll tell Holt you’ve been hiding those accordion folders you like from customers.”

“I file hard, I need strong tabs!”

That’s it. Gina can't let this particular conversation between Rosa and Amy go on any longer. After all, their discussions always turn dull sooner or later, and this one is very clearly _sooner_. “Ooh, Rosa, tell us, where were you this fine morning?” she calls from her table. 

Rosa scowls. “I was up late fixing Tom Hardy’s car, then some moron sent in a bulk-order of earrings that they needed for some party _tonight_, so I had to work on those, and then I overslept. And now I need a nap.” Rosa starts towards the breakroom, ignoring everyone’s bewildered stares (while none of Rosa’s extracurriculars is news to Gina, evidently, none of the others know how to stalk people on Google). 

Just as Rosa’s about to enter the room, however, the door swings open from the inside, causing her to jump back in surprise. Holt and Terry walk out past her, followed closely by a man in an exterminator’s uniform. They talk between themselves for a few minutes before the exterminator leaves and Holt and Terry turn toward everyone else.

“Attention, team, the breakroom is currently off-limits,” Holt announces. “Aubrey Robinson, who manages our Starbucks”—Holt gestures vaguely behind him, in Gina’s direction—“has graciously allowed us to use theirs instead.” 

Gina hides a grin. The Starbucks “breakroom” is more of a closet, and she’s pretty sure that it hasn’t been used (or cleaned, for that matter) in multiple years. She’s been using the Target breakroom for so long now that she considers it her own.

“Wait, why is it closed? Charles and I were going to watch a movie there this afternoon!” Jake exclaims. 

“No, you weren’t; we’re meeting my brother for lunch, remember? He’s upset that I haven’t introduced you to him yet,” Amy says. 

“Oh, yeah. Cool, cool, cool.” Jake’s eyes widen with a mixture of panic and eagerness, and Amy looks as though she’s trying hard not to smile.

_ Oh, that’s right, Jake and Amy are dating, _ Gina reminds herself. She keeps forgetting that little tidbit of office gossip no matter how many times Jake mentions it. 

Terry coughs. “Actually, Jake, that’s exactly why we’re closing the breakroom. Someone left the popcorn out the last time you guys watched a movie, and that lead to a rat infestation. Now we have to explain to Corporate why the TV is being used for something other than Target advertisements.”

“So I don’t get my nap because you dweebs didn’t clean up after yourselves?” Rosa glares around the group, and the terror everyone else’s faces makes Gina snicker. 

“I will notify you all once the infestation has cleared up. That is all for my morning announcements. Dismissed,” Holt says, ending the meeting.

As everyone else goes back to what they were doing, Rosa walks over to Gina and collapses into the seat across from her, using her foot to drag another chair from a neighboring table towards herself and stretching her legs onto it. She then proceeds to pull a nail cutter out of her pocket and begins to enlarge a knot in the wood of the table with one hand while stifling a yawn with the other. Gina watches all of this, fascinated, but quickly averts her gaze when Rosa catches her.

“What?” Rosa snaps.

“You look tired.” 

“Shut up, Gina.”

“You should ask someone to get you a cup of coffee,” Gina advises, mostly because she knows that Rosa hates both small-talk and personal conversation, and it’s fun to irritate her for no reason.

“Isn’t that your job?” Rosa rolls her eyes. “Besides, I never drink coffee.”

Gina stares at her in shock. “Wait, what?”

“Mhmm. Only herbal tea. The ladies in my quilting circle introduced me to it,” Rosa says nonchalantly as she continues damaging office property.

Gina lowers her phone and leans forward; her Twitter updates can wait. “Rosa Diaz, are you telling me that you’ve _ never _ had a Pumpkin Spice Latte?”

“Absolutely not. When I _do _drink coffee, it’s the strongest stuff they have. Go big or go home, you know.” Rosa blows the shavings that she created off of the table. “Also, why do you even care? Aren't they too ‘basic,’ or whatever, for your taste?” she asks, making air-quotes with her fingers.

Gina scoffs. “Bitch, _ I _ made it into the cultural icon it is today. Who do you think came up with the term ‘PSL’ in the first place? It’s a right of passage try it at least once.” 

Rosa raises her eyebrows. “Right of passage to what, exactly?”

“Oh, Rosa, Rosa, Rosa. You poor, Pumpkin-Spice-Latte-less Rosa. You have so much to learn,” Gina says, shaking her head. 

Rosa shoots her a withering look, but before she can respond, Charles walks up to them and requests Rosa’s help in assembling his food cart.

“Ugh, fine. I guess my break’s over,” Rosa says. She grabs the nail cutter from where it’s lodged into the table and stands up. “See ya.”

“Bye.” Gina waves her off. In the back of her mind, she begins to come up with a plan.

* * *

October

“Tell me where the plaque is,” Rosa snarls, her hands pressing into the table and her face twisted into her most terrifying glare. 

Across the table from her, Terry closes his laptop, looking exasperated. “How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t have it. I stand by what I said earlier: heists are dumb.”

“Amy and I stole it from Holt and hid it in the breakroom, but someone took it and then wiped the surveillance-tapes. _You’re _in charge of security for the store,” Rosa slams her fist into the table, causing Terry’s laptop to jump. 

“Damn, Rosa!” Terry yelps. Raising his hands in surrender, he says, “I didn’t do it, but I _ did _ leave the camera room unlocked this morning like I do every Halloween.”

Privately, Gina rejoices; all the pieces of her plan are falling into place nicely. “Wait, is your breakroom open again? Didn’t they find, like, a raccoon colony or something in the vents when they were trying to get rid of the rats?” she asks, pretending like she doesn’t already know the answer. 

“Oh, that was a lie. Amy convinced the exterminator to tell Holt that so everyone else will stay away from the room tonight,” Rosa smirks. 

“Sounds like too much work for a little game,” Gina says. 

“A game?” Rosa asks, sounding incredulous. “It is so much more than ‘a game,’ and Amy and I were _ this _ close to winning it this year!”

“_It _started as a bet between Jake and Holt back when we were trying out those new security robots and Jake managed to steal that cop costume from right under their noses. Ever since then, Holt’s been holding an annual Heist as an ‘anti-shoplifting exercise,’” Terry explains. “But it’s become an excuse for everyone to go crazy.”

Just then, the lights in the store go out, plunging it into complete darkness. As shoppers scream and drop bags of candy everywhere, Gina stealthily walks away from the Starbucks and straight to the storage room—where the fuse box is—and pushes open the door.

“Hi,” Bill greets her. 

“Did you manage to keep the plaque safe?” she asks. 

“Yeah! I think I pulled ‘you’ off pretty well,” he tells her. 

Gina studies him. Wearing a black “Gina Knows Best” hoodie and a brown wig, he appears exactly like her from a distance, but there’s still something missing. He hasn’t _quite _managed to capture the essence of Gina Linetti. “You did your best with the tools you had,” she concedes. “Now give me the stuff; I have a Heist to win.”

She sneaks her way back out, walks right to the middle of the shoe section, and climbs up onto one of the benches there. Exactly thirty seconds later, the power comes back on but floods the store with a strange, pale blue light—except for in the area where Gina stands, so it looks like she alone is illuminated by a single, bright spotlight. 

Gina waits a few minutes for people to notice her, then reveals that she has not only the real Heist plaque, but also two fakes, making her the winner of this year’s Heist. Over Rosa’s “You were lying earlier?” and Jake’s “I know exactly how you did this, except I don’t,” Gina explains how she pulled it off—

“Basically, I stole the real one, replaced it with a fake, waited for Holt to steal it, replaced _his_ with another fake, waited for Amy and Rosa to steal _that_ one, and had Bill watch the Starbucks while I broke into your breakroom, stole it, and wiped the surveillance tapes. Then, once I established my innocence, Bill cut the power and gathered everyone here so I could give my winning speech. 

“You guys didn’t let me participate last year, but I think we can agree that I beat _all_ of you this time,” she finishes smugly. 

“But why go through all the trouble of having us steal the fake ones?” Amy asks.

“Drama,” Gina replies.

Soon after, the entire Sales team of Target squeezes into the tiny Starbucks store. Gina walks to a table in the center of them all, climbs onto it, and claps her hands. 

When everyone quiets down, Jake ceremoniously cuts open a Royal King costume package and pulls out the crown. “All hail Gina Linetti”—she bends down and he places the crown onto her head—“Amazing Associate—no, _ Human _-slash-Genius.” Applause breaks out, and Gina would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy every minute of it. 

“My first decree as Queen is that everyone has to pay full price for any drink you want—unless it’s a Pumpkin Spice Latte, which is free,” Gina announces.

“They’re coming out of your paycheck,” Aubrey reminds her from behind the counter. Gina shoots her a thumbs-up. Applause breaks out again before nearly everyone swarms Aubrey with their PSL order.

As Gina climbs down from the table, Rosa comes over and sits down next to her. “Did you really plan all that _just_ so you could bully me into drinking coffee?” she asks.

“No, but the fact that you refuse to do so is an atrocity. As your Queen—“

“You know you don’t really have power, right?”

“Then as your friend, I can’t let you live a coffee-less existence.”

Rosa lets out a strange grunt in response and stares straight ahead of her, avoiding Gina’s eyes. 

“Aww, is Rosa embarrassed that I called her a _ friend _?” Gina asks in a honeyed voice.

Rosa grunts again. 

Gina nudges her gently with her shoulder. “Because that’s what we are, you know. Friends,” she says, and she swears she can see a small smile playing on Rosa’s lips. 

Suddenly, Rosa turns towards her and slides her a ten-dollar bill. “I’d like a Hot Chocolate, please. Keep the change.”

Afterward, they sit in a circle, playing cards and occasionally getting up to assist a late-night customer who ran out of candy. At one point, after both Rosa and Gina are eliminated (Rosa insists that Terry was peeking at her cards, while Gina’s just bad at the game), Rosa nudges Gina’s foot with her own and, almost imperceptibly, jerks her chin to her left. Gina follows her gaze to where Jake and Amy sit, his arm around her and her head resting on his shoulder as she helps him with his cards. 

“Look at those two dum-dums in love,” Rosa murmurs, a note of wistfulness in her voice. 

_Ew._ Gina resists the urge to scrunch her nose. “You okay?” she asks instead.

Rosa nods. “‘M fine.” Rosa nervously taps her fingers on her knee for a few seconds, then grits her teeth and turns toward Gina. “I jus—nevermind.”

“I mean, I’ll probably find out anyway, with my internet savvy and all,” Gina says.

Rosa sighs. “No, I want to tell you.” She takes a sip of hot chocolate and swallows thickly before continuing. “I miss—” she takes another gulp— “my—” she takes a third—“boyfriend.” She lets out a deep breath as though that one sentence took a great deal of effort to say.

Gina doesn’t know how to respond. It’s weird; she never really thought about Rosa having a significant other before, let alone one whose absence made her all sad and mopey.

“He used to work here, but got transferred to Queens a while ago, and with his new schedule and traffic...” Rosa coughs. “Anyway, that’s all I wanted to share. Friends are supposed to tell each other this stuff, so.” 

Gina grins, but she knows better than to press for details. “Hey, how much do you wanna bet that that guy we saw earlier buying three carts-full of King-sized Kit Kats will be back here within an hour?”

“The one who kept bragging about how popular his house is every year and complaining about the candy prices?”

“Yeah.”

“He walked right past the jumbo packs of minis; he deserves to spend a ridiculous amount of money,” Rosa says, her tone indifferent but her expression grateful—albeit for reasons aside from their current discussion.

Gina doesn’t respond, but she hopes that Rosa knows that she understands. That’s what friends are for, after all.

* * *

November 

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, Gina watches from her usual spot behind the Starbucks cash register as Rosa attaches cutouts of cartoon turkeys to the ceiling at various locations around the store. Rosa had once let it slip that she used to be a professional ballerina, and now, as she stands on her tiptoes, her arms raised and brow furrowed in concentration, Gina can easily see why—there’s a certain elegance about her, one that radiates sheer confidence and _power_. It’s only when she hears her heartbeat pounding in her ears that Gina realizes she’s holding her breath.

Gina exhales slowly and looks down at her phone, hoping that the people around her don’t notice her blush—if there’s one thing that she hates, it’s appearing flustered in public. She starts scrolling through her Twitter feed but barely makes it down a few Tweets before a strange figure entering the store catches her attention.

The individual, a tall man with curly, unruly hair and a beard in severe need of a trim, saunters towards Bullseye’s Playground, where Rosa’s working. Almost in slow motion, like a scene straight out of a movie, Rosa hears his footsteps, turns around, and as she registers who he is, her jaw drops in shock and she takes a giant step backward—all while still holding on to a partially-attached turkey, causing a tile to rip off of the ceiling and crash to the floor.

“Adrian,” Rosa breathes, and she drops the turkey and runs straight into the man’s arms. The next thing Gina knows, the two are locked in a passionate embrace in full view of the store (including all of the customers, Charles, who decided to film the whole scene, and Terry, who looks a little grossed-out), oblivious to the mess of concrete behind them.

Although Gina has never been squeamish towards blatant PDA, she can’t help but agree with Terry’s expression right now.

They eventually break apart when Holt shows up. “Pimento, it’s good to see you again. I take it you’re enjoying your transfer to Queens?” he asks, extending a hand towards the other man, who grabs it so tightly that Gina can _feel_ Holt’s fingers losing circulation (although if he’s in any pain, he doesn’t show it).

The crowd disperses while Holt, Rosa, and the man, Adrian Pimento, converse for a few more minutes. It seems like forever before Holt finally excuses himself and shakes Pimento’s hand again.

Gina’s shoulders relax slightly when Rosa also walks away from Pimento and disappears into the breakroom, although she reappears just a few seconds later without her badge and carrying her motorcycle helmet and jacket, apparently having decided to take the rest of the day off. Then, to Gina’s irritation, instead of leaving the store, Rosa loops her arm through Pimento’s and drags him towards the Starbucks. You know, where Gina is. Because she works there. She briefly considers clocking-out and leaving herself, but the other two reach her before she can.

“Hey, Gina, there’s someone I’d like you to meet,” Rosa says. “This is my boyfriend, Adrian. Adrian, this is Gina. ”

“Hi, Gina!” Pimento exclaims with a slightly crazed look in his eyes. Gina wonders how Rosa could be attracted to someone with so much facial hair.

“What can I get you guys?” Gina asks, avoiding greeting him entirely.

“I’ll get a Tall Iced Blueberry Black Tea Lemonade,” Rosa says. 

_ Well, at least it’s _black_tea this time. _ Gina counts that as a success.

“And I’ll have a Venti Nitro Cold Brew, with two extra shots,” Pimento grins. 

Gina shudders. “We don’t sell that in a Venti,” she informs him.

“Okay, then I’ll take it in Grande, but with three shots.”

Gina watches him bounce on his heels, probably in anticipation of all the (obviously) unnecessary caffeine he’s about to ingest, and makes an executive decision. “I legally cannot allow you to drink that,” she says. “Here, why don’t you take a Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte instead?”

Rosa glares at her, catching on to what Gina’s up to. “If _both_ of you get one, I’ll even throw in an employee discount, even though you’re technically not eligible for it,” Gina offers.

“Babe, that’s a good idea. Then we’ll have more money for that…_ other _store we were planning to hit up later,” Pimento whispers, which for him, is speaking at a slightly-above-normal volume level.

Gina winces. She did _not_ need to hear that particular detail.

“You know what, you’re right,” Rosa agrees. Smiling sweetly, she turns back to Gina and says, “Why don’t you just cancel my order completely? That will save us a lot more.”

“Okay, fine, you win. One PSL coming right up.” Rosa’s not as easy to trick as she had hoped, but Gina does love a challenge.

* * *

December 

“You guys are still selling those?” Rosa asks, pointing behind Gina. 

Gina glances over her shoulder to a blackboard with a drawing of a Starbucks cup and a pumpkin and nods. “Yeah, today’s the last day you could get one, actually.” She looks at Rosa pointedly. “Unless you want to admit that you haven’t had one for a whole other year?”

“Gina, you have to try harder than that. You know I don’t give a crap about social trends and stuff,” Rosa says. She walks to the counter behind Gina and hops up on to it, letting her feet dangle below her. “You have no customers at the moment, so you have time. Convince me.”

“I don’t convince people of anything,” Gina sniffs. “Usually, people listen to what I say without question.”

“Suit yourself,” Rosa shrugs, but she remains where she is. 

Gina grabs a blueberry scone from the display and leans back against the counter, munching on the scone with one hand and unlocking her phone with the other. Rosa’s right; she doesn’t have any customers, so she might as well use this time to catch up on the latest gossip on the Comments By Celebs Instagram account. Rosa watches silently over her shoulder as she does so.

Suddenly, Rosa takes in a sharp breath, causing Gina to jump. “Was that Taylor Swift? Drinking a PSL? Because if it was, I might…” 

Hurriedly, Gina checks to see if Rosa was right, but to her dismay, she’s already scrolled past the picture in question.

“Did someone say ‘Taylor Swift’?” Gina looks up from her phone to find Jake standing at the cash register, his voice quivering with excitement. “I mean, I don’t care, I was just curious.”

Rosa and Gina exchange a look. Jake’s a bit _too_ obsessed with the singer, although he refuses to openly admit it. 

“Rosa here thinks she saw a picture of Taylor Swift drinking a PSL. Apparently, _that’s _the only thing that will get her to try one,” Gina says.

Jake gasps loudly. “Rosa? You’re a secret Swiftie too?” He exclaims, but almost immediately after, his face reddens. “Not that I would know what a ‘Swiftie’ even is, or anything.”

“I think her music’s dope,” Rosa says. “Red’s my favorite album. I had ‘Begin Again’ stuck in my head for four straight months.”

“Wait, Rosa, Beyoncé has a similar picture somewhere. Would _ that _ convince you to try one?” Gina interrupts. 

“Sure.” 

Gina finds the picture in ten seconds flat (it must be some kind of world record) but just as she’s about to show the other two, Holt walks up to the cash register.

“Peralta, Diaz, what are you doing back there?” He asks. 

“Being normal, why?” Rosa blurts.

“Not misbehaving, what?” Jake adds hurriedly.

It’s at this moment that Gina realizes that her friends are terrible liars.

“This area is for Starbucks employees only,” Holt reminds them. “Get back to work. Also, do not forget to inform me of your upcoming vacation dates, if you have any,” he adds, then walks away.

“I didn’t know you guys got actual vacation time. The way everyone makes it sound, your jobs are super intense and require training, or something, especially during the holiday season,” Gina remarks. She’s slightly miffed that Terry has refused to take her suggestions every single year, even though she knows for a fact that replacing all the snowmen lawn decorations with those of wolves would greatly increase profits. 

“We normally get a few days off, but Holt extended it to a month this year since we spent all that time on the night shift when Stentley tried to make us into a 24-hour store,” Rosa explains.

Gina nods, although this is new information to her. Jason Stentley, who was a temporary Store Manager for three months, made work “optional” for all the Starbucks employees during his tenure. While Aubrey, Gina’s boss, tried to figure out how he had jurisdiction to do so, Gina took a trip to Mexico.

“Amy’s going to start Manager Training soon, so we’ll still be in town,” Jake puts in, looking a little sad. “But we’re hosting a New Year’s party, so you guys should come by if you can.”

“I’ll have to check my calendar,” Gina says, deliberately sounding bored but knowing fully well that she’ll be there. She and Jake grew up together, and spending New Year’s with him has been a tradition for such a long time now that she has no intention of being the one to break it.

“Sorry, I can’t come. I’m leaving tomorrow,” Rosa says. “Not telling you where, though, so don’t ask.”

Gina’s heart sinks. Her own vacation begins in mid-January, so they’ll just be missing each other. “Don’t you two have to go back to work now?” she asks, changing the subject. 

“Yeah.” Rosa hops off the counter. “Before I go, though, you did manage to convince me to order something.” She pauses. “Can I get a Strawberry Frap?”

“Now you’re doing that to piss me off.” 

* * *

January 

“The Ball’s about to drop!” Amy calls. Everyone gathers around the TV (while they _do_ live in New York, going to Times Square is too much trouble on a day like this) to watch the countdown. 

_ “7…6…” _

Looking around, Gina can recognize almost everyone by face, even Amy’s second-youngest brother’s husband and one of the Ohio Boyle cousins. There are so many people present that room is barely large enough to fit them all; yet, at the same time, there’s a feeling of intimacy in the air, like a giant family reunion—which, in a sense, it is.

_ “5…4…” _

Last year, Gina and Rosa had a bet about which unlikely pair would end up together at midnight (Gina swore on it being Hitchcock and the lady who lived across the hall, Rosa was convinced that it would be Amy’s niece and the lady’s son. Neither of them was correct). 

_ “3…2…1…” _

The voices are getting lower, almost hushed, now. Gina, sitting on a barstool and sipping champagne, feels a pang of loneliness when she realizes that she has no one to gossip with this time around (and that no one else seems to notice this, either). It’s funny; she’s in a room full of people she knows, but she’s never felt more alone.

_ “Happy New Year!” _

Cheers erupt and the room instantaneously seems overly-crowded, the noise too loud, the happiness too suffocating for Gina to stay in that space any longer. She walks into the kitchen, where it’s much emptier, and dumps the rest of her champagne down the sink. Slowly, she rinses the glass under cold water, letting it cool her hands and forearms. When she finishes, she gets to work washing the other dishes she sees.

Much later, after the noise outside quiets and people start leaving, Amy appears next to her, almost out of nowhere. “Gina!” she exclaims, louder than she would if she was sober. Gina’s relieved; questions from Two-Drink Amy are much easier to field than those from, say, Four-Drink Amy. 

“Your dress looks nice,” Gina says, hoping the random compliment will deter Amy from asking why she’s doing her dishes at one in the morning. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.

“There’s something up with you. You _never _like my clothes, and you’re hiding from everyone,” Amy accuses. She reaches behind Gina to refill her glass with water, then stands across from her, leaning against the kitchen counter. “You can tell me, you know”—she leans in conspiratorially and stage-whispers—“I’m really good at keeping secrets.” 

“I don’t doubt that,” Gina says sarcastically. “But seriously, it’s nothing. I just needed someplace quiet to film my Vlog for tonight.” It’s not a blatant lie, but it’s not the truth, either.

Amy frowns, then suddenly perks up with the same expression she has when she’s solved a particularly difficult case. “You’re lonely,” she says wisely. “Like everyone has a group and you don’t.” She pauses. “I felt like that, too, you know. Until that year Jake invited me to one of these. And you forced me to play Pictionary.” 

Gina has a vague memory of herself, inebriated and excited, dragging a protesting Amy off of Jake’s bed—where she’d been reading the first _ Skyfire Cycle _book—and onto the couch. She’d only done it because she and Rosa needed a third person for their team, but now that she thinks about it, that game led them to discover Amy’s near-photographic memory and her killer sense of humor (as well as the Santiago Drunkenness Scale) for the first time. She hadn’t given that night a second-thought since, but the fact that Amy remembers it after all these years simultaneously warms Gina’s heart and fills it with guilt, like she’s been given credit she doesn’t deserve for something she didn’t do.

“You used to plan these things when you were younger, too, when your dads were gone and your moms were working late; Jake told me.” Amy continues. “You’ve worked so hard at making this little family for yourself and your friends. It’s really very sweet of you.” She cocks her head, as though considering something, and her eyes seem to pierce straight into Gina’s soul.

_ And yet,_ a voice in Gina’s head whispers, _you'd rather have a million fake fans than those few close friends._

_ That’s not true,_ Gina tells the voice. _ Not really, anyway. _ It’s more like she pushes anyone new away before they get a chance to truly know her. It’s why she’s been engaged eight times but never committed—she’s too protective over everything she’s created for herself to let someone in who could potentially damage it.

The fact that a slightly-tipsy Amy could figure all of that out unnerves Gina to the point where she can’t stand this conversation anymore, so she quickly rambles something about fetching her purse from the bathroom and exits the kitchen.

She decides to take a walk around the apartment—even though she’d been there a few times before, this was her first since Jake moved in, and she’s curious to see how much has changed. She’s inspecting the rather interesting juxtaposition of a _Die Hard_ poster and Van Gogh’s _Starry Night_ on the living room wall when Jake sidles up to her. 

“I’m glad you could make it,” he says. “I take it your schedule wasn’t as busy as you thought, huh?”

“It’s New Year’s, Jake,” she laughs, and she leaves it at that. 

Jake’s eyes soften. “Remember our party in ‘90? Freshman year of college, back home for break…that was a wild time,” he murmurs. “My apartment was a mess for _ days _ after.”

“And look at you now,” Gina says, reaching up to ruffle his hair like she used to do when they were kids. “You’re out of your bachelor pad; you’ve got yourself a girlfriend; you’re no longer a loner…”

“Hey!”

“You’ve done well, Pineapples,” Gina smiles. 

“Yeah, I have, haven’t I?” He looks at her knowingly. “It’s your turn now, if you’ll let yourself have that.”

Gina thinks so, too.

* * *

February

Rosa comes back from her vacation a day after Gina leaves for hers, but promptly gets transferred, along with Jake, to a random store in Connecticut due to what corporate referred to as a “clerical error.” They’ve been gone for two weeks by the time Gina comes back, but it takes another two before said “error” gets resolved and they can return to New York. 

Pimento, for his part, not only had a hand in accidentally causing the transfer, but he also relocated to Canada in his girlfriend’s absence. Gina doesn’t want to say she’s _happy_ when she hears that, but she isn’t necessarily sad for her friend either. Rosa can do better, in her opinion.

In any case, Rosa’s first shift back in Brooklyn happens to be on February 14, and Gina delights in watching her scowl and dodge candy hearts and cupid decorations all day. From the way that she’s acting, it’s obvious that the holiday isn’t Rosa’s cup of tea (which is ironic, considering that that’s the only beverage she drinks).

However, at the end of her shift, Rosa walks out of the breakroom wearing a shocking-pink shirt, and Gina’s so astonished at the festive choice of clothing that she involuntarily squeezes the cup she’s holding, almost spilling the coffee, when she sees it.

“Oh, _someone’s _distracted today,” Hitchcock tells her as he pays for his drink. Gina rolls her eyes and sends him off. 

Two minutes later, Rosa makes her way to her cash register, and _wow_ is that pink is even brighter up-close. “So, what will it be?” Gina asks, trying not to appear as unsettled as she feels.

“Oh, I haven’t decided yet,” Rosa says offhandedly. 

“‘K, take your time.” Gina busies herself with sweeping the crumbs off the counter as she waits (not that there are many, but it’s a good excuse to look down and away from that shirt).

“That’s it?” Rosa asks.

“Huh?” Gina looks up. 

“What happened to your usual ‘Rosa, buy a PSL instead,’?” Rosa imitates her with a high, falsetto-like voice. “Or have you finally come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to try one?”

Gina blushes. She was so distracted that she didn’t think about that. “I haven’t forgotten. I would’ve suggested it, but we don’t sell those year-round.”

“Right, and you don’t have any extra Pumpkin Spice Sauce or whatever stashed somewhere,” Rosa deadpans. 

_Damn._ Gina was hoping Rosa wouldn’t think of that. As she scrambles to think of an appropriate response, a flash of purple catches her eye. _ Perfect. _

“Hey, Boyle!” She calls. “Are you wearing a lavender tie?” 

Charles, who was just about to exit the store, comes jogging towards them. “Yeah! Genevieve and I are going to a wine-and-exotic-cheese-tasting tonight, so I thought I’d get a little more dressed up,” he says proudly. “Gen told me that this color makes me look sexy.”

“Ew, Charles, no one needed to hear that!” Gina groans while Rosa wrinkles her nose in disgust.

“You guys are just jealous that you have no plans for tonight,” Charles shoots back. 

Gina laughs. Not having plans for Valentine’s Day had never bothered her before, and it certainly doesn’t now. 

She’s about to ask Rosa if she wants to have a Girl’s Night instead when out of nowhere, someone yells Rosa’s name. Seconds later, none other than Adrian Pimento descends on their group.

“Ready to go, babe?” he asks Rosa, apparently forgetting that it’s polite to greet people before starting a separate conversation.

Gina narrows her eyes. She’s never been one for overprotectiveness, but the very thought of him and Rosa still seeing each other after all that has happened in the past few months sets off a billion warning-bells in her mind. 

To her great annoyance, Rosa doesn’t seem to care. “See you guys later,” she says, and with that, she and Pimento leave the store, hand-in-hand.

“Oh, Gina, pick your jaw up off the floor,” Charles laughs once they’re gone.

“What?”

“I’m curious—are you mad that she has plans and you don’t, or that she has plans with someone who isn’t you?” Charles asks.

_ What kind of absolute nonsense is that? _ “Have you decided I’m your new ‘project’ now that Jake and Amy are together?” Gina retorts. “Boundaries, Boyle, boundaries.” 

“Hey, you’re the one who couldn’t stop staring at her all day. And I’ve seen enough of those same glances between Jake and Amy that I _ know _ it’s not just because of that pink shirt.” The grin on his face irritates Gina to no end. 

“Shut up, Mr. Grapes,” Gina snaps. Charles has clearly lost his mind.

Clearly.

* * *

March

Gina walks in to work one day to find Rosa already waiting for her, her fingers tapping on the counter in impatience. 

“What’s up?” Gina asks as she sets her bag down. She turns on the coffee machines, warms up the pastries, and flips the “Closed” sign to “Open," and during all of this, Rosa says nothing but continues her incessant tapping.

“Okay, I guess we’re not in the mood to talk this morning,” Gina says. Rosa blinks back at her. “But I do need an order,” Gina prompts again. A beat passes, and Gina wonders if extreme, years-long caffeine-deprivation has somehow caused Rosa to fall asleep with her eyes open. 

It isn’t until Gina waves a hand in front of her face that Rosa snaps awake. “I broke up with Adrian yesterday,” Rosa finally says, her fingers tapping so loudly now that Gina can barely make out what she’s saying. 

_ Oh, _that _explains it. _ “Aww, babe, I’m sorry,” Gina replies, but in her effort to hide the relief bubbling in her chest and sound genuinely sad, her voice comes out oddly monotone—the exact opposite of what she intended. 

Still, she must have said something right, because Rosa’s shoulders visibly relax and she removes her hand from the counter and stuffs it into her jacket pocket. _ Thank goodness. _The tapping was starting to make Gina go insane. 

“You know what will cheer you up? A PSL,” Gina says jokingly, trying to keep the conversation going. Internally, she winces—now it sounds like she’s trying too hard to be upbeat. _ Get it together, Linetti, _she tells herself.

“Sure, I’ll have one.” 

“I’m serious, it’s an absolute tragedy that yo— wait, you said _ yes _?” Gina asks, amazed. 

“Yeah, why not. It must be a good drink if you keep offering it to me.” Rosa holds her gaze for a second longer than what should be deemed as normal, then looks away as if nothing had happened.

Gina flinches. If it came from anyone else, she would have considered that look _flirting_—steady eye contact, eyelashes fluttering and a twinkle in her eye, the corners of her mouth oh-so-slightly turned up. 

“Uh, yeah, I’ll get that for you then,” Gina mumbles. She walks into the back kitchen, her head buzzing. 

_ The look barely lasted for half-a-second anyway; chances are, she’s misreading the whole event altogether, something she’s been prone to doing ever since Charles made that comment on Valentine’s Day. _

Gina traces her finger along a shelf, trying to locate where she stashed her contraband PSL sauce. Unfortunately, it’s a task easier said than done.

_ Rosa’s undeniably good-looking and quick-witted, and she gets Gina’s mannerisms and humor and general outlook on life better than anyone else. _

_ Not to mention that Charles has a point—there _is _chemistry between them that can’t be denied. _

Finally, at the very end of the shelf, Gina locates what she was looking for—a small cardboard box labeled “Unicorn Frappuccinos” that’s filled to the brim with everything but what the label suggests—the perfect place to hide things, after all, is somewhere where no one would ever go looking. She pulls the box out and starts searching through it, pulling items out at random as she does so.

_ She’s spent so long running away from anything serious, throwing away engagements like they’re nothing, refusing to open up to anyone she hasn’t known for decades that she’s not sure that she _can _at the moment. _

The feeling of her hand grasping at air pulls Gina out of her reverie. She looks at the pile next to her and the empty box now in her hands in shock: there isn’t a single Pumpkin Spice Sauce package anywhere in sight.

_ Rosa’s attractive and smart, and she understands Gina at a level that no one else does. That’s why they click together so well. _

_ Gina doesn’t want to risk losing that, especially when she’s uncertain of what she wants. _

She bites the inside of her cheek to stop the blush threatening to turn her face into a tomato as she makes her way back outside. Rosa, now perched at the edge of a table with her legs thrown over the back of a chair, looks at her expectantly. 

“So, it turns out that I don’t have any of the Sauce left,” Gina says.

Rosa looks annoyed, and maybe a little disappointed, and Gina’s heart drops straight to the floor. Rosa laughs. “Chill, Linetti, I’ll just get a Vanilla Latte instead. But make sure you have some of the pumpkin stuff ready for when I come back next.”

* * *

April

Something strange has happened within the Sale’s Team recently, Gina can tell. Ever since they got back from some conference they attended in Los Angeles last week, Amy’s been even more high-strung but also ten times more confident than she usually is, Jake won’t stop swiping through pictures on his camera roll (although what they are of, Gina doesn’t know), Charles has taken to using weird farewell-greetings with everyone (among other, less enjoyable alternatives, she’s heard five “Peace Out”s and six “Hasta la Vista”s come out of his mouth this morning alone), Rosa’s been sneaking peeks at her phone more often than she normally does during a shift, and now their weekly team meeting is taking twice as long as it normally does. Even though, as a rule, she doesn’t care about such things, Gina finds herself itching to know what has happened.

After what feels like an eternity has passed, the door to the breakroom swings open and people start dispersing out in their usual fashion—well, everyone except Rosa and Jake, who linger around for a few more minutes, engrossed in deep conversation. Finally, Jake pats Rosa on the back and walks away, and Rosa, who has a dazed look on her face like she’s just finished something particularly difficult and is still high on the adrenaline of it, starts walking idly toward the front of the store.

“Are you taking your break now?” Gina calls to her, mostly because Rosa’s about to enter the parking lot with her badge and uniform still on and Gina’s pretty sure she isn’t supposed to do that in the middle of the day.

Rosa pauses and her eyes dart quickly around before she nods and hesitantly walks into the Starbucks. Gina’s never seen Rosa do _anything_ hesitantly before, and it only piques her curiosity more. _ What is going on? _

Thankfully, she gets her answer soon enough. “So, I told the rest of the team something…personal this morning, and I think I should—I _want _to tell you, too,” Rosa blurts as soon as she reaches the cash register. “Please don’t make a big deal of it.”

Gina looks at her. “Girl, when do I ever make a big deal out of anything? I am the _ least _ dramatic person I know.”

“You literally sent everyone out on two separate wild-goose chases and hired a freaking body-double during this year’s Heist for the sole purpose of creating unnecessary drama.”

“That’s different; it was about me. Plus, I won, didn’t I?”

Rosa _ Humph _s. “Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I’m bisexual.”

Gina waits for Rosa to continue speaking, but she doesn’t. “Oh, that’s it?” Gina asks.

“Yup. That’s it.” 

Gina’s surprised. Judging by how skittish she was, Gina was half-expecting her to reveal that she used to compete in beauty pageants or something. (Not that she thinks Rosa wouldn’t have competed in pageants. Well, she probably didn’t, they don’t seem like her kind of thing. But if she did, she would have been very good at them, Gina’s not trying to deny that. Never mind.) Honestly, she’s a little irked that Rosa felt so nervous about revealing something so simple to _her._

Rosa’s staring at her now, and Gina realizes that she’s been zoning out for a good five seconds. “Sorry, I was—” Gina starts to explain, but then she thinks better of it. She of all people should know better than to over-analyze and judge Rosa’s demeanor right now. “Thank you for telling me,” she says instead. 

Rosa nods. “Oh, also, Charles found out at the conference and he is absolutely incapable of keeping a secret. You know he refuses to say the word ‘bye’ around me anymore?”

“I just assumed he’s been on a _Terminator _binge recently or something,” Gina says. “How did he find out?”

“He overheard me on the phone with my girlfriend,” Rosa says nonchalantly. 

_ Wait, Rosa has a girlfriend? _ Gina must look about as flabbergasted as she feels, because Rosa quickly adds, “It’s new, and I don’t think it’s going to work out—she drinks soup too much.”

Gina wrinkles her nose. “The time it’s acceptable to drink soup is when you’re sick, and even then—”

“Only when everything else doesn’t work,” Rosa finishes. “Great minds think alike.” 

“Is that so? Because if you agree with my taste in consumable liquids…”

“Gina, I’m not going to drink a PSL.”

Gina laughs. “I _ was _ going to offer you a PSL when you walked in here, but why don’t you try our new Rainbow Drink?”

Rosa looks skeptical. “What’s a ‘Rainbow Drink’?"

“I dunno, something new they want to unveil for Pride in June. Corporate sent a giant box to our store early for taste-testing purposes,” Gina says. “I haven’t tried it yet, but I will if you do.”

Rosa shrugs. “Sounds good to me.” 

* * *

May

“Okay, let’s go over the plan one more time,” Jake says, pacing around the breakroom so anxiously that it takes all of Gina’s willpower to stop herself from getting up and supergluing him to the floor.

Holt clears his throat. “It is now four o’clock in the afternoon. In one hour, I will call Santiago and ask her to come into work urgently, then I will leave for my meeting with the District Manager. I am sorry that I cannot be of more help to you, Jake, but you know I would much rather be here if I could.”

“No, thank you for doing this, sir. I know Wuntch is a lot to deal with. Hitchcock, Scully?”

Scully sits up straight, like a schoolboy called on by his teacher, and recites, “Once she comes in, we’ll distract her—”

“By charming her into going on a date with us,” Hitchock butts in.

“No!” Jake says, exasperated. “You’ll distract her by…”

“Showing her plans for a reinvented culinary aisle, complete with my food cart,” Charles finishes. “Don’t worry, Jake, I’ll make sure they don’t mess it up. Today’s a big day for you, and I don’t want it to be ruined!”

Jake breathes a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Charles. At that point, I’ll sneak off to the roof and start setting up. After that, Terry?”

“I’ll fake a family emergency and leave her in charge of the Floor,” Terry says. 

Jake nods. “And you’ll come up and help me with the lights and stuff. Meanwhile, the rest of you, remember—”

“Keep her busy, but don’t give her so much to do that she panics,” Rosa quips. “And she’ll be scheduled for a break at six, at which time she’ll join me and Gina at Starbucks.”

Gina, who had only been passively listening until this point, jumps when Rosa kicks her in the shin under the table. “Huh? Oh, yeah. We’ll occupy her somehow—maybe discuss something boring like the crossword—and then find an excuse for her to go to the breakroom at six-thirty.”

Jake’s eyes widen, and Rosa kicks her again. “What?” Gina yelps. “Was that not part of the plan?”

“No!” Jake responds, looking thoroughly vexed. “Did you not read the email I sent out this morning?”

Gina shakes her head. 

“The roof access in here was closed off when they did the repairs,” Rosa says. “So we’re scrapping that part.”

“Wait, so you’re telling me that you’ve spent the last few weeks planning all of this but just found that out?” Gina asks Jake accusingly. She also had the day off today but gave it up so she could be here; At the very least, he should have checked all of this beforehand.

Before Jake can respond, Rosa speaks up. “We rarely go up to the roof, especially in the fall and winter. None of us knew. It’s not a big deal.” Turning back to Jake, she says, “At six, Amy will order her usual evening coffee—a Caramel Macchiato—which Gina will refuse to make, claiming that she lost the flavoring she needs. We’ll send Amy to the back-kitchen of the Starbucks to find it, where after a series of events, she’ll end up on the roof.”

“And then, showtime,” Jake says softly. He looks up at all of them and opens his mouth to say something, but Charles squeals loudly, interrupting him. 

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just excited. Jake and Amy are getting engaged!” Charles grins. 

Jake laughs, and for the first time all day, he looks much more excited than nervous. 

Jake dismisses them soon after, and Gina immediately gets up to leave, but she barely makes it halfway to the Starbucks when Rosa catches up to her. 

“Dude, what has gotten into you?” 

“Nothing,” Gina snaps, her irritation growing. She continues walking again, but Rosa grabs her arm and forces her to turn around.

“You know how important this is to Jake. Would it kill you to be a little more supportive?”

At that, Gina’s temper sparks to life, and anger rises in her chest. “I _am _being supportive. Leave me alone.” 

They stare defiantly at each other for a few seconds before Rosa releases her grip on Gina’s wrist and turns on her heel. “Drink some coffee or something. You better not be in this crap mood when Santiago shows up,” she calls over her shoulder. 

For all intents and purposes, the next hour unfolds perfectly. Amy arrives at the store promptly at 5:05 and is immediately accosted by Hitchcock and Scully. Gina watches as Charles forces her to try some of whatever his new concoction is and Amy grimaces and shakes her head, during which time Jake tiptoes past her and exits the store. Amy turns around and bumps into a very frazzled-looking Terry, who explains his (fake) emergency to her with lots of hand gestures. Two minutes later, he hands his set of keys off to Amy (discreetly removing the one for the storage-box on the roof), and she begins patrolling around the store proudly. 

Gina pretends not to notice that Rosa avoids coming near the Starbucks during this whole time, even though several customers request help in the same area. 

At six o’clock-sharp, Amy starts walking toward the breakroom. Gina sees her go and wonders if anyone is going to stop her—the plan, after all, hinges on the fact that she will spend her break at Starbucks. Just as Gina thinks this, Rosa (finally) jogs past her and grabs Amy’s arm. Amy jumps, Rosa tells her something, and both of them start walking toward her, Amy’s reluctance visible and Rosa’s not so much (but enough so that Gina can tell). 

“Hey, Gina, is it okay if I sit here?” Amy asks. “Apparently, the breakroom has a rat infestation again.” 

Gina nods but doesn’t say anything. 

“Santiago, order something, my treat,” Rosa says.

“No thanks. I’m trying to cut back on caffeine.” Rosa and Gina exchange a look. _ That’s not good. _

“Today doesn’t seem like a good day to fall asleep on the job, is it? Drink something,” Rosa commands. Amy shakes her head. 

“Fine, would it help if _ I _ get something too?” Rosa asks. “Gina, my usual, please.”

“So a PSL, then,” Gina confirms without thinking, purely out of habit.

Rosa glowers at her. _ Now is not the time._

“Do you even have PSLs at this time of year?” Amy asks.

“I have a secret stash of— " "she has the ingredients— " Gina and Rosa start to explain at the same time.

Amy raises her eyebrows. “And is it _ legal _ for Gina to have this ‘stash’ in non-autumnal months?”

Rosa rolls her eyes. “Does it even matter? Last time I ordered it, it turned out that she didn’t have any left.”

“It was _ one _ time!” Gina protests (although the truth is, she still hasn’t gotten around to replenishing the stock).

Amy looks between them. “Are you two…okay?” she asks. “Because I have a conflict res—”

Just then, Rosa’s phone buzzes. She checks it, then looks straight at Gina and mutters, “Rochambeau.”

“Huh?” Gina stares back at her blankly. Rosa looks like she’s about to strangle someone.

“Rochambeau? What does that mean?” Amy asks. Gina and Rosa both ignore her. 

“Uh, okay, actually, I’ll get a Caramel Macchiato, please,” Amy rambles awkwardly. 

“Give me a second, Let me go and check if we have some left,” Gina says, sounding bored, because she is—all she has to do is go to the back kitchen, wait for five minutes, and come back out announcing that the log says that they got a shipment recently but that she can’t find any.

“I’ll help you,” Rosa says suddenly. Gina sighs but allows her to come behind the counter and follow her back.

They walk in silence, but as soon as the kitchen door slams shut behind them, Rosa starts talking. 

“What the hell is wrong with you? _Rochambeau _was our codeword; Terry just texted saying that they’re done setting up. You’re lucky Amy decided to order all on her own. Tell me what’s bothering you, right now,” she demands. 

Gina considers arguing but decides against it. She’s too tired to keep it up. “I don’t know,” she admits. “I’m happy for him and all, but I can’t help but be worried—don’t you think Jake’s rushing into this?”

Rosa looks startled. “What do you mean?”

“They’ve only been dating for, like, two years. Terry and Sharon were together for six, and Holt and Kevin even longer than that. I just don’t think he’s thought this through, and if Amy feels the same…”

To Gina’s surprise, Rosa not only stops glaring daggers at her, but she almost starts _smiling_. 

“What?”

“Nothing,” Rosa says. “I didn’t realize you had a protective streak, that’s all.”

Gina rolls her eyes. 

“Kevin and Holt wanted to get married earlier, but legally couldn’t,” Rosa reminds her. “And Jake and Amy knew—and honestly, had feelings for—each other _years_ before they got together. If Jake says he’s ready, then he is.” 

Gina shrugs half-heartedly. The reasoning makes sense, but that doesn’t mean she likes it. 

“And if it’s Amy you’re worried about, don’t be. She made herself a Life Calendar ages ago, and she’s scheduled to be married sometime within the next two years. She’s fine,” Rosa adds. Gina grimaces, and Rosa laughs. 

“But did he have to choose someone so _boring? _” Gina complains, and Rosa swats her arm. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” She pauses. “I just don’t want to see him get hurt. With his parents, and Jenny, and Sophia…kid’s been through a lot.”

“I’m sure he’s scared too, but sometimes, taking that risk is _so _worth it,” Rosa says sagely, and Gina’s heart lurches. 

Every romantic instinct she’s ever had goes directly against Rosa’s words, and it occurs to her that maybe she’s the one who’s wrong about keeping people at an arm’s distance away at all times. She prides herself on the fact that she marches by the beat of her own drum without a care for what others think of her; why shouldn’t that extend to _all _aspects of her life?

“Yeah, I guess so,” Gina smiles, and the anxious feeling in her stomach starts to dissipate. “Who knew you were such a softie?” 

“Shut up, Gina.”

Amy’s still sitting at the counter, on her phone, when they return. “We couldn’t find the Caramel Sauce,” Gina informs her. 

“Some moron probably wrote that we got a new shipment yesterday even though it’s clearly not there,” Rosa adds. 

Amy frowns. “No, you _did_ get a new shipment; I saw it myself. I’ll go find it,” she says. Gina, who was expecting this response, lets her pass into the kitchen, exactly as she’s supposed to. 

As soon as Amy’s out of earshot, Rosa whispers, “Hey, come with me,” and begins walking toward the back of the store. Curious, Gina follows her. 

They stop in front of a door labeled “Security.” Rosa pulls a bobby-pin out of her hair and shoves it into the lock, but before she can pick it, a voice behind them says, “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

“Go away, Boyle,” Rosa barks. “We’re on official store business.”

“No, you’re not. You just want to see the proposal, like all of us. Well, joke’s on you, because there’s no audio on the cams,” Charles says haughtily.

Rosa deftly reaches into his pocket and pulls out a black box. “And now we have the audio. Care to join us?” And with that, she pushes open the door, and they enter a room full of surveillance-camera footage. 

“There she is,” Charles points to a screen showing the Starbucks back kitchen. He presses a button on the box, and a crackling sound fills the small room. Gina, Rosa, and Charles watch with bated breath—Jake never actually explained how he was going to get Amy up on the roof, and they’re all curious to see what his plan is. 

“Where is it, where is it?” Amy murmurs on-screen. She reaches the end of the shelf, and right in front of Gina’s Unicorn Frappuccino box is another, the only unmarked one in its row. “This must be it. The dust-pattern on the top doesn’t match the others,” Amy says, and she tears it open, reaches inside, and pulls out a post-it note. “I’m on the roof. Come if you want your drink. Love, Jake. P.S: I don’t have my phone, so don’t try to text me to come down,” she reads aloud. “What the hell. How am I supposed to get up there?”

“Next to you, Ames,” Rosa murmurs, and, as if she heard her, Amy looks to her right and sees a ladder, decorated with fairy-lights, poking down from the ceiling and leading up to an open vent. Amy stares at it for two seconds, then grasps the rungs of the ladder and starts climbing.

“Trust Santiago to have the entire ventilation-system of the store memorized,” Rosa says.

“Trust Jake to know that she would,” Charles adds.

“So that’s what Jake needed help with,” Gina comments. 

“Yeah. The ladder’s usually kept in the locked storage-box on the roof, and also it’s pretty heavy, so Jake needed Terry’s help to get it out and move it,” Charles explains. “Look, she’s reached!”

And sure enough, another screen shows Amy standing up in open air. Gina gasps—for all his messiness and disorganization, Jake decorated everything beautifully, with more lights arranged in swirling patterns above Amy’s head and candles and rose petals forming a winding pathway from Amy’s exit point to the far corner of the roof.

“Aw, I didn’t put recording devices that far back,” Charles complains. But the scene is magical enough without hearing the words, and Rosa leans her head on Gina’s shoulder as they watch it unfurl.

Amy walks slowly and gently on the rose petals, turning her head occasionally to look for Jake, who’s still nowhere to be seen. When she’s two feet away from the edge, he finally emerges shyly from behind a pillar, holding a Starbucks cup in one hand and a ring box in the other. Slowly, he sinks to one knee and snaps open the box, but barely gets a few words out before Amy starts tearing up and nodding vigorously. Jake slips the ring onto her finger and Amy helps him back up and pulls him close and just like that, their two best friends are engaged.

* * *

June

Gina walks into work in a good mood—after months of waiting, a package of Pumpkin Spice Sauce was delivered to her doorstep that morning. She eagerly cuts it open and is about to start restocking the boxes inside when Rosa appears at the counter.

“You’re strongest, blackest coffee, please,” Rosa groans before Gina even has a chance to ask her what she wants. 

“Or a PSL,” Gina’s about to interject (now that she can actually make one if she’s asked to), but she swallows her words when she notices Rosa’s unusually pale skin and the dangerously dark circles around her eyes. “Are you feeling okay?” she asks, worried. 

Rosa very nearly sways on the spot, but still manages a scowl. “Why is everyone asking me that?” 

Gina doesn’t really know how to respond— it’s a perfectly valid question to ask someone who looks like they’ve been through hell and back twice in one day, but she also doesn’t have a death wish—so she says nothing and starts making a Grande Nitro. 

By the time she finishes, Rosa’s hunched over the table in the far corner, her head resting in her arms so she looks as though she’s asleep. Even though she’s technically supposed to call out customer’s names when their order is ready, Gina personally brings Rosa’s drink out to her and taps her shoulder to wake her up. 

When Rosa lifts her head, her eyes are rimmed red and her eyeliner is smudged slightly—it’s obvious that she wasn’t sleeping at all. “Thanks,” she mutters, roughly grabbing the cup from Gina’s hand. Gina takes a seat opposite from her, ignoring the fact that everything about Rosa’s body language screams “leave me alone.” 

Two minutes later, Rosa has downed all sixteen ounces of the strongest caffeine that Starbucks has to offer but looks no less exhausted than she did when she first walked in. Wordlessly, Gina gets a napkin and hands it to her, but Rosa brushes her hand away.

“Well, if you need anything else, you know where to find me.” Gina sighs and starts to get up. She’s not the most comforting of people, but she felt the need to try here. If Rosa doesn’t need it, though, she’s going to respect that.

“No, wait, stay.” Rosa grabs her wrist. “Please.” Gina sits back down. 

“I came out to my parents two days ago—well, tried to, anyway,” Rosa tells her. “It didn’t really go well.” 

“That much I got,” Gina says dryly. To her relief, Rosa’s lips turn up slightly at that. 

“I brought Jake along for moral support, but then my parents insinuated that they’d rather I be his mistress than with a woman, and, I don’t know, it kind of threw me off, and I ran out of there.”

“So they didn’t take it well,” Gina summarizes. “I can relate to that.” Confusion momentarily flashes on Rosa’s face, so Gina explains, “When my parents found out I had a girlfriend in high school, my father refused to speak to me for years afterward. My parents were long-divorced by then, and I didn’t even live with him, but it was still rough.”

Rosa laughs darkly. “It gets worse. They invited me to Family Game Night yesterday, so I thought they’d gotten over themselves. But they said they’ll never accept me for who I am, and I don’t know, I”—her voice cracks slightly—“I knew they’re super traditional, but I never expected them to…we never talked about my dating life before, so…” she trails off, turning away for a moment, before adding angrily, “I shouldn’t even care about this shit. I’ve never felt the need for their validation or whatever before.”

Gina reaches across the table and rests her hand on Rosa’s. “They’re your parents. They’re supposed to love you unconditionally, and you’re allowed to get mad at them when they hurt you. Don’t blame yourself for your feelings.” 

Rosa reaches up and wipes away a stray tear in the corner of her eye. “I need to get back to work now, but, um, thank you,” she says, squeezing Gina’s hand. Gina watches her walk off and feels an odd, heartbreaking sense of déjà vu. 

Around lunch, a man who Gina’s never seen before but whom she could only assume to be Rosa’s father drops by the store. He and his daughter step outside for a few minutes, and when Rosa comes back, there’s a fresh wave of anger and sadness radiating off of her. Before she even enters the Starbucks, Gina has another Nitro ready to go. 

“Today just keeps getting better and better,” Rosa tells her sardonically as she picks up her drink. Gina offers her a grim smile in return. She’s been where Rosa is right now before, and she knows the way out, but the journey certainly isn’t going to be an easy one.

Later, when Jake invites her to a surprise Game Night at Rosa’s apartment, Gina agrees without hesitation. It’s the least she can do for her friend.

* * *

July

Something has changed between Gina and Rosa. Gina’s not sure what caused it—maybe it was Rosa opening up, maybe it was Gina letting her guard down, or maybe it was a little bit of both—but ever since Game Night, they’ve been talking more and sharing more; Rosa, who used to set timers on her phone so she didn’t break the “one fifteen-minute break per shift” rule, has taken to spending nearly an hour every day chatting with Gina about anything and everything under the sun without an alarm in sight, and Gina, similarly, now sees these conversations less as a means of distraction and more as the highlights of her days.

One afternoon, after the last of the Independence Day Clearance items have been purchased and most of the public is off on vacation somewhere or another, Gina decides to use her free time to start a new Starbucks Secret Menu-themed series on her Youtube channel and Rosa stops working altogether to help her film. Well, not _help_, exactly—she’s absolutely useless around coffee machines, so she spends most of her time stealing the drinks and sampling them behind Gina’s back, but Gina doesn’t mind. (For the most part. When Gina sneakily replaces the Pumpkin Spice Macchiato on the counter with a plain PSL, Rosa notices and leaves it untouched for half an hour until it grows cold, which is not only a waste of a perfectly good drink, but it’s also just plain rude.)

After a few hours, Rosa gets hungry and Gina, after (not) much convincing, lets her get a pastry from the display-cabinet and use her employee discount code to pay for it. While Gina gets to work making the drinks for “Episode IV: The Cereals Strike Back” (a Fruity Pebbles Frappuccino, a Captain Crunch Frappuccino, and a Cinnamon Toast Crunch Frappuccino), Rosa sits on the counter, chewing on a slab of coffee-cake and pouring salt into the drink mixes when Gina’s not looking.

“Stop that!” Gina playfully admonishes when she catches Rosa reaching for the salt for the third time. Rosa laughs and leans to the side, arm outstretched, in an attempt to get away as Gina makes a grab for the shaker in her hand. When Gina does manage to get it, they’re both stretched at such an extreme angle that when Gina turns her head toward Rosa to gloat gleefully, they’re nose-to-nose. Their eyes meet, and all of a sudden, something between them seems to shift. 

Gina has seen enough TV to know that when her life is made into a mini-series (and it will be, eventually), this moment will become one of the most iconic of its run: the background music will slowly fade out so the only sounds left are the small ones of them breathing; the camera will zoom into a closeup of their profiles, perfectly capturing the shocked expressions on their faces; _ just _ the right amount of time will pass so that the audience is on the very edge of their seats, waiting to see what will happen…

Unfortunately, they’re not on any sort of screen right now (unless surveillance-camera footage counts), but there is still pin-drop silence as Rosa’s fingers go slack and Gina’s instinctively tighten around the shaker, although neither of them notices because they’re too busy staring at each other, hearts beating faster and faster and faster, waiting to see what will happen next, who will break the moment first. The tension in the air is heavy, but so is the electricity, and Gina can’t decide if she’s more likely to get electrocuted if she moves closer or looks away.

“You’ve, uh, got crumbs on your mouth,” she murmurs. “Can I…?” Rosa jerks her chin down slightly in assent, so Gina gently reaches up and brushes them off. Afterward, she doesn’t move her hand away from Rosa’s cheek, but she doesn’t do much else, either. _ It’s your move now, Diaz,_ she thinks, hoping that Rosa will respond to the message that she’s so blatantly sending.

And respond she does. A split-second later, her arms are around Gina’s waist, pulling her closer, and Gina wraps hers around Rosa’s neck and smiles as she leans in. The Fourth of July celebrations may have been a few weeks ago, but when their lips finally meet in the middle, fireworks _literally_ explode in Gina’s mind and body and heart.

* * *

August

“So, Shaw’s after work?” Rosa asks. She is, as has become her usual routine now, sitting on the back counter, watching Gina tend to the giant influx of orders from moms exhausted from back-to-school shopping. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Gina answers, distracted by a lid that she’s been trying to get onto its respective cup for the past minute. She’s about to give up and get a new lid altogether when Rosa hops down from the counter, quietly takes it from her, and puts it on perfectly. 

“Thanks,” Gina says gratefully, taking a deep breath and brushing a stray piece of hair out of her face. She hands the cup over to the customer and rushes back to the cash register to take the next order, but to her relief, she finds that there’s no one else in line. 

“Congratulations, you made it through the rush,” Rosa smirks, but there’s also a note of pride in her voice that makes Gina’s heart soar.

Their relationship has been mostly casual so far, but Gina can’t remember the last time she felt so excited about spending time with another person. While a lot of small things that she’s learned about Rosa over the past few weeks don’t surprise her at all, like the fact that Rosa has a panic room installed in her apartment or that she wakes up at sunrise to go for a run before work, there’s so much that has changed in her perception of her that Gina can’t imagine what it’s like to _ not _ know that Rosa also has a vase of lemons on her shelf to give the room “a pop of color” or that she usually spends her Sunday afternoons volunteering at the animal shelter. 

What Gina enjoys the most, however, is how much less guarded and more free with everything Rosa has become around her, whether it’s ranting about an annoying customer for two hours straight (Gina timed it) or randomly bringing her flowers, chocolate, or (like she did two days after they first kissed) a teddy bear dressed in a green tutu. It’s the little things like this that makes Gina realize that even though it’s only been a few weeks, she’s already falling for her, hard.

Rosa snapping her fingers in front of her face brings Gina back down to Earth. “Are you going to sit there and daydream for the rest of my break, or will you actually get me something to drink?” Rosa teases. 

“I think I could use something myself, after all that. Want a PSL?” Gina asks. Rosa rolls her eyes but doesn’t actually say no, so Gina gets two cups out and starts brewing the coffee. 

Just then, Jake walks up to them. “Hey, guys, I have the official entry-cards to the venue next week. It’s a super fancy place, so you have to bring these to be allowed in,” he says, handing each of them a small white envelope. 

“Damn. I still can’t believe you guys actually managed to plan the whole wedding in, like, four months,” Rosa says. “I mean, I saw Amy’s binder, but I was sure you’d mess something up along the way.”

“I know, I thought that too, but what can I say? My future wife’s a complete genius!” Jake gushes. “Also, can you believe she managed to book us in a hall that looks exactly like Hogwarts? On September 1? It even has a giant staircase and a _library_! These nups are going to be _so_ toit.”

Rosa laughs, but Gina looks between them, confused about what the big deal is. “The first day of term at Hogwarts is September 1,” Rosa explains. “Hogwarts, the school from _ Harry Potter _?” 

“Oh, I didn’t read those books. I’m too pretty,” Gina says. 

“_Please _tell me you at least watched the movies,” Jake gasps. Gina shakes her head.

Rosa stares at her. “That’s nuts. We have to fix that.”

“Speaking of which, if either of you are bringing a plus-one who’s also invited to the wedding, let me know. Amy has about a billion cousins and we couldn’t invite them all, so the extra space would be helpful,” Jake says, giving Gina a pointed look. Beside her, Rosa shifts uncomfortably. 

“Why did he look at you like that?” Rosa demands once Jake leaves. 

“He’s probably wondering if we’re going to the wedding together, or separately since that’s how we RSVP'd,” Gina says offhandedly, getting the Pumpkin Spice Sauce out and ready. 

“He knows about us?”

Wincing slightly at the irritation in Rosa’s voice, Gina says, “Yeah, I told him. I thought that was okay. I mean, you guys are also best friends, plus I know that Charles knows too.”

“That’s because it was _your_ brilliant idea to ask him for restaurant recommendations! Why didn’t you just tell me before you said anything?” 

“I’m sorry. I know we didn’t really talk about it yet, but since we weren’t straight-up hiding it or anything, I figured everyone else would eventually find out at some point.” At this point, Gina’s temper is flaring up too, although she’s trying hard not to let show. 

“Well, you figured wrong. I don’t think we’re ready for that yet,” Rosa snaps.

Gina recoils, stung. “What, did you just expect to go to this wedding alone?” She’d been hoping to romantically ask Rosa to be her date sometime over the weekend, but that’s clearly out of the question now.

“I don’t know. But I did think we would make that decision together, not by you telling the groom something without consulting me first.”

Before Gina can respond, the coffee machine beeps, signaling that their drinks are ready. 

“You know what, it’s time for my break. I think I’m going to go drink these in my car,” Gina says, and for the first time, she leaves Rosa at the Starbucks by herself, taking both PSLs out with her.

* * *

September

On the day of Jake and Amy’s wedding, Gina finds herself waiting for Rosa, white envelope in hand, outside of a giant mansion as people stream in by the dozen. Arriving separately but sharing an entry-card is by no means a perfect arrangement, but it is, at least, one step closer to officially attending the wedding together, and Gina doesn’t want to push the issue further than she already has. 

**We should be each other’s plus-one’s, so Amy can invite more of her family members, **Rosa had texted her a few hours after their fight. **Sorry for getting angry earlier. I freaked out and snapped at you when I shouldn’t have. **

**It’s okay. I understand,** Gina had replied. **I’ll let Jake know. You still up for Shaw’s?**

So basically, things are more or less back to normal between them, relationship-wise. Yet, Gina can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy as she stands here, watching other happy couples hold hands as they walk up the stairs. 

“Hey, Gina!” Terry calls to her as he makes his way up, holding one of Cagney and Lacey’s hands in each of his own. “Are you heading in?”

“I’m just, uh, waiting for something,” Gina says shiftily, unsure of what the appropriate response is in this situation. 

Terry nods. “Well, I’m going to go find our seats. Isn’t this place beautiful? Terry loves love!” And with that, he hands his card to the usher and disappears inside, leaving Gina alone, again. 

Over the course of the next twenty minutes, Gina is forced to endure quite a few pitying glances from the usher and even more strange looks from random attendees, probably wondering why such a beautifully-dressed woman is waiting outside like a crazy person, and a text from Rosa saying nothing more than **be there in five, running late** doesn’t help matters. She waits, agitated, as nearly everyone else enters and gets seated.

Gina’s fully prepared to give Rosa a piece of her mind when she sees her car pull up to the venue, but any annoyance she feels up to that point disappears the second Rosa gets out wearing a gorgeous deep-purple, off-the-shoulder gown that makes her look like some kind of warrior princess as she climbs up the stairs, carrying a gift-bag in one hand (something Gina forgot she had to bring herself) and a bouquet of flowers in the other. She made it, they’re here together now, and that’s all that matters. 

“Hey,” Rosa smiles at her when she reaches the doorway. “You look amazing.” Gina shrugs, her brain incapable of forming coherent sentences. Rosa offers her an arm, and together, they enter the hall. 

Jake was right—the place is huge and majestic, and absolutely stuffed-full with people. Although they already have reserved seats next to each other, they’re one of the last to arrive, and Gina pretends not to notice the millions of pairs of eyes that follow the two of them as they make their way to the front row. She looks at Rosa nervously, wondering if she should pull her arm away from hers, but Rosa’s too busy staring at the stained-glass paintings on the walls to pay much attention to her surroundings. 

The ceremony begins not long after they sit down. Jake stands tall and proud at the front, and Gina can tell by the way his face is arranged that he’s trying hard (but failing somewhat) to remain serious and composed. However, the minute the doors open and Amy comes into view, all of this melts away as his expression turns into what can be best described as a “giant puddle of mush.” Charles bursts into burst into tears on the spot, and even Holt cracks a smile. 

Amy, for her part, makes for an absolutely radiant bride. She floats down the aisle in a pristine white dress that suits her perfectly, but it’s the joy and delight in her eyes as she walks toward the love of her life that truly makes her glow. For the first time, Gina knows and appreciates what it means to have someone who makes you feel like that every day, and despite her initial misgivings, she couldn’t be happier that these two found each other.

Rosa laces her fingers through hers during the vows, forcing Gina to turn away from the bride and groom for a second to make sure that her date is still of sound mind—after all, they’re not only in full view of all of their coworkers, but by the looks of it, the entire rest of Brooklyn as well. Rosa squeezes her hand but keeps her eyes forward, which confuses Gina even more. Still, it’s not like she can say anything about it now, so she simply relishes the feeling of Rosa’s thumb idly rubbing circles on her knuckles and turns her attention back to the front. 

Later, as soon as the toasts and other formalities are over with, Rosa gets up and starts walking toward the dance floor. “Come on, what are you sitting there for?” she calls when she realizes that Gina is still glued to her chair. 

“Are you sure?” Gina asks. “I know it’s a wedding, but we don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, but I do,” Rosa insists, pulling Gina to her feet. “Dance with me, please?” Gina smiles and rests her head against Rosa’s shoulder, swaying gently to the music. 

They stay like that for a while as the DJ, for some reason, decides to play four slow-songs in a row. For the first few minutes, Gina nervously keeps an eye out for people staring at them, but for the most part, no one seems to be doing anything weird, so she quickly relaxes. Thankfully, Rosa doesn’t seem uncomfortable either. In fact, it’s only when Gina starts to feel _really_ thirsty that Rosa makes any move to stop their dancing. 

“What do you guys want?” the bartender asks when they reach the bar. 

Gina opens her mouth to ask for a beer for herself and a whiskey for Rosa—their usual preferences—but Rosa interrupts her before she can. “I think we’ve had enough to drink, actually,” she says, even though they haven’t had any at all. Gina aims a kick at her under the table (her throat is so parched that she can barely speak), but Rosa shifts her calf away and asks, “Do you have coffee, by any chance?”

“We do,” the bartender replies, confused. 

Rosa grins, and with a twinkle in her eye, asks, “Can we get two Pumpkin Spice Lattes?” 

**Author's Note:**

> First things first, thank you to:  
\- @b99fandomevents for organizing the Exchange and @thirteenbythirteen for the prompt  
\- @letsperaltiago and @ydididodis for all your help with editing this  
\- @darkrosemind for your amazing advice, encouragement, and support, and for letting me rant to you about this for a week straight  
you guys are the best 💕💕  
The title is from the song "Seasons of Love" from the musical _Rent._ If you recognized any lines from the fic, it's probably because they were actually used in an episode of b99. 
> 
> Thank you guys for reading!!


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